


Lullaby for a Hero

by Pebble



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Breath of the Wild Spoilers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mute Link, Other, Possible Eventual Smut, Rating May Change, also yes the horse gets a character tag fight me on this, i guess, it will at least be referenced, possible mentions of other games/timelines, prepare for, smaaaaall chance Shadow Link will be included or mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-11-12 20:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11169450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pebble/pseuds/Pebble
Summary: Evil had been awakening long before the knight was fully resurrected, growing in strength and malice each year.The day evil truly awoke and began fighting its prison was the day you decided to do something about it.Unfortunately no one told you that the prophecy said defeating Calamity Ganon needed some teamwork.No one even told you therewasa prophecy.So why does the hundred year old knight seem so familiar?





	1. A Long Rest

**Author's Note:**

> So my internet crashed when I tried to post this the first time and like a moron I hadn't saved my writing. I'm filled with burning rage as I rewrite this.
> 
> I just got Breath of the Wild, and have always wanted to write for LoZ: Twilight Princess, but that's a bigger undertaking than I have time for and each chapter would take me a few weeks, haha. So instead of a super descriptive epic story with some wonky time travel and heartbreak, you get this. Some dorky shenanigans to keep the inevitable angst at bay.  
> Just this chapter is mostly in third person, the others will be in second and more focused.
> 
> Update on the second writing of this first chapter:   
> Rage is gone now, I think this might be better, it has a different feel to it but I added better details and flow (I think). However I haven't gone over it and it's 7 in the morning, and I haven't slept so I won't until later. The glaring issues will be resolved :)

A young Hylian was perched high in a tree, arms crossed beneath their head, hood pull back and folded like a makeshift pillow against the hard wood. Their feet were propped up on branches level with their eyes, which were sharp and watchful, a stark contrast to their very relaxed mien.  
This had come from travelling at the break of dawn until noon without a single break, and even once hunger and fatigue had begun taking hold of them they didn't settle down and make camp like most would. Experience from travelling alone had led them to develop a habit of resting in trees. Not just any kind, though. It had to be tall enough that no bokoblin could snatch them if they happened to doze off, and still taller than any other trees around it, or in an open space. Being able to view their surroundings and scout for danger was incredibly important, especially when half the little monsters liked to pop out of the ground like armoranths when it rained. Chuchus were the worst of that kind, completely undetectable on the surface, and incredibly effective pests. They were the reason the Hylian kept their belongings close; twice now they had lost their things to the gelatinous monsters from falling asleep or going off to collect firewood, discovering potions, food, clothes, you name it encased in their slimy bodies. Even after dispatching the monsters, what wasn't damaged was certainly ruined.  
In their relaxed position, they had everything within reach. A sturdy pack was situated securely on their lap, laying back against their thighs, a stolen and worn Boko Shield hooked onto the left side of their hip, quiver full of arrows on the right. A handmade bow was resting length-wise across their torso, and a single arrow was out from the quiver, being idly shifted between their fingers as they studied the landscape. 

The tree they were nested in now had met all their requirements; tall and solitary, upon a hill with partially buried ruins at the base to the east (which they had searched and cleared of enemies) and not a bokoblin camp in sight, and fresh apples were hanging off the branches. An especially welcome bonus, as opposed to acorns or mushrooms. Two apple cores were already sitting at the base of the old tree, a satisfying state of repose taking over the Hylian as they moved their gaze up to the sky. Trying to determine how long they'd already spent in their current safe haven, they moved to sit up and remove their lunch from their bag- but suddenly the ground began to shake.  


_"WHOA!"_

All at once the earth jumped and rocked violently, the noise overwhelming and rising in volume as they tumbled from their perch, tossed downward. They landed upon their bark shield, feeling it snap in two under their weight. Their bow was thrown far from them, arrow and pack lost in the confusion as they began rolling down the hill. Unable to stop, they protected their head, shouting in alarm and gasping as dirt piled up and pushed them faster and further away.  


A short eternity passed by, the Hylian thanking the Goddesses as the tremors stopped shortly after their rolling came to a blissful end. They wound up on their back, breathless and sore, likely bruised from head to foot, staring skyward once more. A moment was spent collecting themself, shifting each muscle and bone to make sure they hadn't broken anything, letting their lungs fill again. They still looked up, and only once the shock of the natural disaster passed did they realize the sun was now blocked from their view. Sitting up in rush, they coughed as they accidentally sucked in some of the dirt and dust in the air, stunned for the second time in only a handful of minutes.  
The hill they had once been comfortably settled upon was split open, all the soil and earth moved aside, to make way for a giant, glowing tower.

Deciding quickly this had to be some kind of unfunny joke the Calamity was playing on them, or some kind of cruel lesson the Goddesses were trying to teach them, they let out another cough, frowning openly. The Hylian recognized that an impossible structure appeared to have risen from the ground, but why it had done so was unfathomable.  
Adjusting their priorities and setting curiosity on the back of the wagon, they stood and sought out their belongings. Quiver close by them, rumpled, only two arrows broken. Bow half-buried by the landslide the tower had created, but fully in tact. Their pack was nowhere to be found. In the midst of hunting for the leather bag of treasured things (like their map, bedroll, clothes, and lunch), they had begun inspecting the spire that rudely interrupted their day.  
It had six equal sides, built up by odd metal webbing that was gold in colour, and some stonework with equally odd orange runes inscribed over the edges. The runes were the source of the glowing, but there were no answers to be found at the bottom of the tower.  
"I'm not climbing it just because it ruined my day." Grumbling softly to themself, they firmly squashed down their curious nature, wanting to put this entire mess behind them and resume their travel. "I'll just find my pack somehow, and go."

A whole hour passed, and as shock fully abated their pain became gradually more noticeable, particularly when they rolled back their shoulders and felt a sharp twinge in their back. Feeling their tunic, their hand returned with just a little red on the fingertips, a sure sign that they had rolled over that loose arrow at some point in the chaos. Despair nearly took them for a moment; all that care, all that vigilance, all for naught.  
_Lesson learned, one cannot prepare for an earthquake._

The Hylian was prepared to give up and surrender their belongings to nature, when another realization came to their mind. Tilting their head back, they stared up at the tower and all of it's infuriating beauty (for it was quite pretty, in a mystical kind of way), and saw a very familiar tree.  
The tree was on its side, laying on some kind of ledge, which the tower had many of spread around almost randomly. It was easily two thirds of the way up the tower, and sure enough, once they squinted they spotted a lump hanging off the end of a branch, very out of place but undeniably what they sought. Their pack had probably caught on one of the branched when they'd been tossed over the side of the tree, and luck was certainly playing games today.  
Pinching the bridge of their nose, they resigned themself to their fate, and strapped their bow to their back, quiver securely on their hip where it belonged. The Hylian marched to the base of the tower and hooked their fingers into the metal webbing, adding one final, exasperated comment before gathering their strength.

_"By the Goddesses, movement like that could wake the dead."_


	2. Treasure for the Worthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Climbing is stupid.  
> Okay, not stupid, but it can be a little dull when there's no challenge to it.  
> Grip the holes in the weird metal. Step up. Repeat.  
> Repeat and repeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My only excuse is my health, but honestly I hit a slump in motivation to write. Luckily it's back now! This chapter is a little shorter, but the next will come quickly.  
> Not sure how fast I'll be updating, since I have another series in mind as well...  
> But look! Climbing!  
> How exciting!

Your fingers lace around the curving gaps of the glowing tower, and you've easily been climbing for ten minutes. You avoid the platforms up high on the sides; even though a break sounds lovely for your aching hands and toes, you'd rather not risk the vertigo pulling yourself onto one of them. Your stamina isn't a bottomless well, so you know you couldn't climb right to the top in one go, but you're fairly sure you can reach your pack.  
It dangles above you on a branch of that oh-so safe and lovely tree, now horizontal and not exactly evenly placed on that small platform. The bottom half with all the roots is sticking far more out into open space, and you refuse to climb beneath it.  
Death by a tree falling from the sky, no thank you, Goddess Hylia.

The gold, metal webbing is smooth, and you're glad, otherwise climbing this would be _painful_ , especially without your gloves.  
Where were they? In your pack. As was everything else you owned but your bow and quiver, attached securely to your back. Your bedroll, your clothes, and all your materials were hanging on the edge of that little branch, each gust of wind making it swing perilously. You had a few elixirs in there too, if the pack fell they would certainly break and ruin everything else inside.

"I should get a horse.." You grumbled quietly, using all the strength of your lungs to pull yourself up another three feet. "Then I would've reached Kakariko Village already, and wouldn't have slept-" You grunted and grasped tightly at the walls of the tower, raising your feet to follow your arms, "-in this Goddess-cursed _tree_!"  
Frustration was threatening to take over your resignation to the situation, because you certainly hadn't asked for this to happen, nor did you deserve it! 

You finally get close to your little brown pack, and you want to cry out in relief, your fingers almost throbbing at this point. Tightening your grip with your left hand, you reach up, carefully, and curl your fingers into the strap that isn't caught on the tree. You suck in a nervous breath, and squeeze the cloth tightly.  
You realize quickly that you can't just yank it off; even with the imbalance of the tree in your favour you don't want to risk it changing its mind and swiping you off the tower. The way your luck has been so far today, it would almost be certain death. Very, _very_ carefully you slip the bag off the little twig that has your precious belongings hostage, unhooking it, and _immediately_ you put it on your right shoulder.  
The breath you'd been holding comes out, and you laugh, releasing the tension in your muscles but keeping your hands and feet firmly within the openings on the webbing. Oh no, you won't fall to your death now, after that success the Goddesses would truly have to be cruel to kill you.

A **loud** , groaning noise interrupts the glow of your victory, and you think maybe you jinxed yourself and the tree begins to slide off the platform. Before a curse can even be uttered in your panic as you leap to the left, catching yourself in a bold move you wouldn't made if it weren't for your survival instincts kicking in, you realize the tree isn't coming towards you. It slips, with increasing speed, far to your right until it tips, roots first, off the platform and _crashes_ to the ground below. The tree nearly breaks in half on the rocky ground before the trunk decides to keep rolling until it disappears down the hill.  
Your neck aches from how you have it turned, watching the event unfold with a stunned silence. 

Eventually, after you climb onto the now empty platform, you laugh again. 

_"I guess I was luckier than the tree."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there is a surprise in store for this story. Over time I'll be adding chapters in between the chapters with the Reader, where it's Link's POV.  
> SPOILER, haha, it'll be like this-  
> A Long Rest for the Hero  
> Treasure for the Worthy Hero
> 
> Where it'll show what was happening at the same time, but those will be added laaaater, after I flesh out more of what the Reader is up to. Let me know if this sounds like a good idea.


	3. Nice View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why not climb all the way up? You're practically there already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeelll........here you go.  
> (wow 35 kudos I'm so relieved this isn't terrible)  
> I'm not editing this story, like at all, not yet. Every 5 chapters I'll go back and fix/add a few things.

You look up above you, seeing that the peak of the tower (which looked like some kind of bowl) had gaps in the bottom for someone to climb up through and presumably reach the top. A glance down told you that you were just above the halfway point, once you got past the brief wave of vertigo it gave you. You were up high, but fairly certain that if the tower-pillar-thing had been at the bottom of a valley and not high up on a hill like it was, it wouldn't have fazed you as much.  
You sit for several minutes on the platform, the unusual stone not even scratched from when it burst from the ground, or when the tree scraped its branches across the smooth surface. As strange as all of this was, it was too long and vivid an experience to be a dream, but that was hardly a comfort. 

_What kind of thing would trigger a tower popping out of the ground like an Octorok?_

Eventually, you open your pack and take a look inside, becoming more and more relieved when you find nothing broken or damaged. The pack isn't nearly as big on the outside as it is inside, which made it very valuable. Supposedly, a Great Fairy had enchanted it a hundred years ago to fit almost anything inside. It wasn't infinite space, you knew that from experience. Trying to put two dozen torches inside hadn't worked, but you had at least forty mushrooms, twelve peppers, and somewhere around fifteen or twenty apples. Apparently the limitations of the pack were fickle and confusing, but it was a great deal nicer than anything else you came across in your travels. An old woman in Hateno Village had sold it to you for 400 Rupees, steep, but now you could carry everything you owned in one place. A blessing and a curse, you learned today.  
It was only noon, the sun reaching a perfect zenith to be obscured by the enormous orange and bronze tower. Your stomach growls, and the throbbing in your back from the wound your arrow caused became hard to ignore now that you had taken a short rest. You rifle through your pack until you feel your fingers brush a little fairy-shaped bottle, and pull it out to see the tell-tale pink liquid of a Fairy Tonic. You pop the cork and down about a third of it, feeling a tingle run through your spine as your soreness and the pain in your back dissipate. As you press the cork back into the glass bottle, a smile spreads across your face.

"Thank you fairies, for having blessed my cooking."  
If ever you came across a fairy, you would invite the small pink creature to stay with you for a while, and almost every time the fairy would accept. Some would follow you on the weight of their glimmering wings, others would politely ask to stay inside your pack. They liked the company, and you would part ways when the fairy found a place they wanted to remain, but not without showing a sign of gratitude. Often this would be a blessing for your food, making it delicious and rejuvenating. Other times they would heal your wounds or bruises themselves, and say a cheerful farewell.  
You came to learn that was unusual, for a fairy to be so unafraid and trusting of you, and to actually speak to you. They would only help people that managed to catch them, in return for freedom. It was upsetting to know, and only made you strive to be kinder to any fairy you came across.

Right now you were on your own, otherwise you might have cried out of worry for any small, pink friend trapped in your pack when the tower snatched it up. _Just another relief,_ you decide, and look back up at the gaps at the top of the tower.  
If you climbed up to the top, you'd have an excellent view of your surroundings, and you didn't feel very safe sitting on such a small ledge, being shaded and isolated or not.  
If you were to climb down, it was a long walk to Dueling Peaks Stable, because according to your map the only road went North and around the _Cliffs of Quince_. Sure, you could cut West across the bottom of _Mount Rozudo_ , but the map had some kind of large dip in the ground (you were unable to make out the name of that spot) and then you would have to across... _Sqbbe? Squbble? Squabble. Squabble River._ That sounded dangerous, and unappealing, and would probably take you just as long as going around it all.  
In the end, going to the top was certainly doable, and there wasn't any reason not to. You would reach Kakariko Village in two or three days no matter what you did now. So you took your gloves from your pack and stood up, securing the pack between your shoulder blades and your bow. You stretch your back and cross your arms over your chest, determination filling you now that you finally had a grasp on your life again. As long as no more unpleasant surprises awaited you at the top, it felt like a good plan.  
You began to climb, the tower shielding your eyes from the sun, and this time it took you only a few minutes. You didn't need as many breaks, and the goal was clearer than _try to grab your bag, and don't die_.

The gap in the bowl-like shape was a small tunnel to the top, and you pulled yourself up onto a platform made of the same stuff the little ones were. This platform widened out beyond the rest of the tower, making it seem very top heavy, but the way it shot from the ground without a scratch made you think it wouldn't fall over any time soon. A strong breeze buffeted your clothes, but the warm sun kept you from feeling a chill as you walked to the middle of the platform.  
Six arches led to the actual peak of the tower, framing three entrances, including the one you had crawled up through. A small, circular pedestal sat perfectly in the center, below a large, triangular stone pointing downward. Curiosity brought you right up to the pedestal, and you found the flat of it was glowing orange, with a rectangular divot like a missing puzzle piece. 

"This is definitely ancient tech," you realized, talking aloud as the decorative pattern all over the tower became familiar. It was exactly like the shrines you saw throughout Hyrule, even the pedestal was the same as those in front of the little structures.  
An old legend said the shrines were all tests for the great hero (champion?) that would save Hyrule and defeat Calamity Ganon, but what were these towers?

The growl of your stomach interrupts your inspection of the platform, and with a delicate sigh, you settle down and remove your pack. Leaning back against the pedestal, you stare across the landscape of Hyrule, stretched out before you in a view much more beautiful than what you had with the apple tree. You take out your lunch, and eat calmly as birds pass by.

Between two mouthfuls, you comment idly.

_"I can see Death Mountain from here."_


End file.
